


Je Ne Comprends Pas

by Fire_Bear



Series: APH Yuri Week 2016 [6]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: APH Yuri Week 2016, College, Day 6, Dresses, F/F, Fluff, Hate to Love, Present Tense, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-25
Updated: 2016-06-25
Packaged: 2018-07-18 05:48:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7301908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Bear/pseuds/Fire_Bear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alice hates her room-mate: Anette is French and they just don't understand each other...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Je Ne Comprends Pas

**Author's Note:**

> I am never writing in present tense ever again. Whose idea was that!
> 
> Anette - fem!France.

Alice hates her room-mate.

Anette is much more beautiful than Alice, with her brown hair always done up in an elegant style. She wears short dresses or crop tops and shorts, showing off as much skin as she can get away with. Boys and girls fall over their feet to date her and she ends up bringing them back to their room.

But that's not why she hates Anette.

Anette is charming yet lewd and, somehow, that works in her favour. Everyone knows that she is the best cook in the building and, most of the time, she can be found in the kitchen. She makes fun of Alice's cooking and bars her from the kitchen when she can.

But that's not why she hates Anette.

Anette acts like a snob and only pretends to do work. Alice constantly sees Julchen and Carmen working on their projects while Anette polishes her nails. She mocks Alice for studying but Alice is constantly getting high marks so that doesn't bother her. However, Alice is not that popular and only has a small friend group. She's not got time to find love or friends in college, or so she thinks, so it's rather irksome to find herself in a room with someone who is so popular.

But that's not why she hates Anette: Alice hates Anette because she's French.

That's not to say that she hates all French people – well, maybe she doesn't exactly like them – but she hates Anette for being French and, thus, being really bad at English. On multiple occasions, Alice asks for her to tidy up or to help her with the laundry. Whenever she does, she gets a blank look. Anette speaks to Alice in halting English and, sometimes, changes the subject to something vulgar. Alice suspects that's just to laugh at her blush. Additionally, some of her friends can speak French and so Alice puts up with conversations she's not party to. It's extremely frustrating and vexing. And, as Anette becomes better at English, she becomes all the more annoying.

For instance, now, the beautiful young woman is looking over Alice's outfit for a party they're both going to. “Hm,” says Anette, frowning slightly.

“What is it now?” Alice demands, almost growling.

After a brief pause while Anette continues to frown, she says, “Je ne comprends pas.”

And there it is – the phrase Alice hates the most. Whenever Anette doesn't quite catch Alice's words or doesn't understand the words themselves, this is what she says. It always upsets Alice as she feels as if she must explain; whenever she and Anette speak, Alice feels exhausted. Luckily, this is an easy one to fix.

“I said, 'Qu'est-ce que c'est?'”

“Ah. It is...” Anette trails off, searching for the English word. Alice narrows her eyes, sure she is going to give up. And she is correct, Anette shrugs a shoulder and says, “Il manque quelque chose.”

Shaking her head, Alice tries to decipher the French from her limited knowledge. All she gets from it is 'he [something] some things'. She looks down at herself, noting her plain party dress. It is blue and covers her arms, isn't low cut and reaches her knees. Alice thinks she looks good in it but, clearly, Anette thinks there is something missing from it.

“What do you want me to do about it?” asks Alice, shaking her head again.

Without warning, Anette grabs Alice's hand and drags her to Alice's wardrobe. Surprised, Alice does nothing to stop Anette and stumbles after her, blushing at the contact. However, when Anette flings open the doors, Alice manages to pull her hand away, trying to conceal her blush. Then Anette begins to drag Alice's neat dresses from the rail and throw them onto her bed. Alice gives a cry of protest.

“Non, non,” says Anette as Alice lunges forwards to grab one of her dresses. “These will not do.”

“Don't start that!” Alice snaps, remembering Anette's previous style advice. Alice, of course, ignores her all the time. She will not listen tonight.

“Aha! This is what you should wear.”

Alice is surprised that Anette has found the lilac dress Alice's sister picked out for a party they attended not so long ago. It stops at the upper thigh, has no arms or straps and dips dangerously between Alice's breasts. However, Alice's bust is not meant for such a dress and she shakes her head frantically, taking a step back as if the item of clothing is a thing of horror.

“No,” says Alice and tries to resist explaining by gesturing to her chest. She only just manages to stop herself and ends up with her hand over her heart.

“Put it on. Let's see.”

“There is no way-” Alice begins but is manhandled into the bathroom before she can finish her sentence. After the door is slammed shut behind her, Alice sighs. She knows there is no way she will get to the party unless she complies, at least briefly. So she changes out of her _perfectly fine_ party dress and into the short one. Then she emerges from the bathroom, keeping her gaze firmly on the floor.

“ _Trés_ bien!” exclaims Anette and Alice looks up to find Anette staring straight back. Her cheeks are rouged and her eyes are wide in shock; Alice is not sure if that is a good reaction. “Mais... I must put your hair up.”

“It _is_ up!” Alice exclaims, gesturing at her usual style.

“Non, non! It must be in a... a... chignon.”

“A _what_?!”

Anette gestures at her own style, perfectly pinned into a bun complete with fleurs de lis hairpins. “This.”

For a moment, Alice only stares. Then she shakes her head. She is not sure she wants Anette to touch her at the moment. Besides, she doesn't like the dress as it is. With her hair partially down, it somewhat covers it a little and makes her feel better. “I'm going to change back to the other dress,” she says once she decides on her course of action.

“Ah, non, s'il vous plait! Why?” cries Anette, rushing to block her way.

“I don't like it. I look stupid. It's- Look at it! I'm not- It makes me uncomfortable,” Alice declares, folding her arms over her chest. Feeling almost as if she is less clothed than before in this position, she drops them immediately and hugs her stomach in comfort instead.

“Je ne comprends pas.”

Sighing, Alice makes her way to her desk and, after a little struggling, pulls open one of the drawers. There she finds her English-French dictionary she had since high school and flicks to the U section of the English-French part. “Gênant,” she says once she finds the right word.

For a while, nothing happens. Anette only stares at her, looking rather surprised. Alice is not sure why – she used the dictionary before. It is an infrequent occurrence, however – perhaps Anette believes Alice would use the language barrier to refuse to wear the dress. Then Anette walks forward, reaches up and pulls one of Alice's hair-bands from her hair.

“You're beautiful, Alice. Please don't let yourself think you aren't.”

Alice's breath catches in her throat and she is certain her heart skips a beat. She merely watches as Anette removes the other band and places both on the desk. Then she removes one of her own pins and puts it in Alice's hair, making sure it pulls Alice's hair back over one ear. Smiling at her, Anette leans forward and presses a quick kiss to Alice's forehead. At this, Alice gasps and, with wide eyes, watches Anette smile wider and leave the room.

Alice thinks Anette is the more beautiful of the two of them, both in appearance and personality. She also thinks that Anette is kind and funny. She is dedicated and passionate and knowledgeable about her area of study. She is open about her sexuality and her likes and dislikes. She is determined and hard-working. She is a good friend and provides excellent advice.

Alice likes Anette's hair: she likes that she gets to see it messy in the mornings. Alice likes Anette's eyes: she likes that, a lot of the time, they focus on _Alice_ and not anyone else. Alice likes Anette's lips: they feel as soft as they look, even if she has only felt them on her forehead. Alice likes Anette's body: it entices Alice to watch Anette move and Alice enjoys watching the way she stretches and dances and walks.

Alice loves her room-mate.

**Author's Note:**

> Technically, there is no language barrier - Anette knows English. Only… when they first met, she greeted Alice in French automatically, forgetting she wasn’t in France. Then Alice grumbled under her breath (in English) some unsavoury things about the French and, insulted, Anette decided she would just ignore her. Then she got to know Alice and, well…
> 
> It’ll be fun to see Alice’s reaction when she finds out Anette’s been lying about being able to understand her.
> 
> (P.S. Anette is very touched that, despite her grumbling, Alice tries her best to find the right French words…)


End file.
